Invite to 'wrong David Davis' sees police accused of racism

Members of the Black Police Association were shocked to be accused of racism
by an MP they had asked to speak at their conference – and realised they had
mistakenly invited the wrong man.

By Jon Swaine

8:44AM GMT 30 Oct 2008

The National Black Police Association (NBPA) had wanted David Davis, the former shadow home secretary, to address their gathering in York. However, a mix-up led to David Davies, the Conservative MP for Monmouth, receiving the call.

And in a sharply critical speech, Mr Davies told the Association exactly what he thought of their organisation and its values. He said: "To me, it's a shame membership of the NBPA is open only to those of black, Asian or Middle Eastern origin.

"It could be argued that this is explictly racist, in that it bars white people, and implcitly racist in suggesting they care less about racism."

After angering the audience, the MP was offered an escort out of the building.

Mr Davies added that the NBPA, which is supporting the legal action being taken by Tarique Ghaffur, the Metropolitan police assistant commissioner, over claims he was racially discriminated against by the Met, should "check the truth" of such claims before heading to court.

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Stafford Brooks, the general secretary of the NBPA, said: "There was an invitation sent out - the wrong David Davies turned up. Clearly, he did say some controversial things and it was quite upsetting for some of our members. But it was a very successful conference as far as we are concerned."

Speaking after the conference, Mr Davies said: "They may have wanted David Davis but that's not my problem. If I'm asked to give a speech that's what I'm going to do. They did look a bit surprised."